Wiggins Special (Freedom Ain't Free)

Wee Charlie Wiggins, born to coal

Born to make that shoe-black shine

The KKK drove Charlie home

To speedway town, way down southside

Charlie raised his junkyard cat

Who roared for the king of speed

His jet-fuel mind turned black to gold

Them white boys craved his alchemy

Last Sunday in May and freedom ain't free

The highway shouts on highway

The open road will take its toll

Triple A left him behind

Well, it was a tune-up test on a Louisville track

White man's race but Charlie's steel

That Kentucky mob said, "That man's Black!"

They rolled him out on a paddywagon wheel

Charlie made them tires burn

His memories by the wayside go

Amid the weeds and the wildflowers

And them rainbow-colored Firestones

Last Sunday in May and freedom ain't free

The highway shouts on highway

The open road will take its toll

Triple A left them behind

Charlie knew the sound of speed, he heard that black cat pur

Down Hillside, Shirley knows it too, the highway shouts to her

Shirley's got a '62 Mercury, teal Meteor, with tailfins sharp

The road calls out to call it home

But home needs fixin for a broken heart

Last Sunday in May and freedom ain't free

The highway shouts on highway

The open road will take its toll

Triple A left them behind